Bleach: Revolution
by Dual Minded Wolf
Summary: After finding out that the show and manga actually have a basis in reality, two friends find themselves thrust into a fight for their lives that could change the Soul Society forever. One must walk the path of an Espada, while the other is stuck between becoming a powerful Soul Reaper or something more. New alliances must be formed to face a powerful new enemy declaring war. R&R!
1. Chapter 1

Jacy: Well, here's another idea fresh from the minds of me and my friend, who wants to be known as Connor.

Connor: Yeah, he and I recently had a flurry of ideas and decided to create a _Bleach _story.

Jacy: Instead of boring you with things that you probably won't read, let's start the story!

Disclaimer: We don't any of the copyrighted things we use, we do own our OCs and this story.

xRxExVxOxLxUxTxIxOxNx

Bleach: Revolution

Chapter 1: It's…real?

It started out like any other day for Jake Harlowe. Get up, get dressed, eat breakfast, brush teeth, and head off to school. It's hard to believe that normal day would lead up to an incredible adventure; that by the end of it all he'd learn that what he had thought was just a cool anime and manga actually had a basis in reality, he'd fight the good guys, he'd fight _alongside _some of the good guys after he and his friend accidentally started a revolution, and he'd find the girl of his dreams in the most least likely of places, all after his own death! But, to understand everything, the best place to start would be when he and his friend were talking during their free period…

"I'm telling you, Connor," Jake told his friend as they stood, looking out a window at a black cat that sat there watching them back, "That cat has been following me for _days _now."

Connor Caelan merely shrugged his shoulders and responded with a wry grin, "Dude, chill, it's just a cat. It's not like you're superstitious about black cats anyway."

"It feels…I dunno, weird, I guess," he said, turning and putting his back to the window, "Like it's studying me, or something."

"You're too paran—" Connor was cut off as a wail of some sort rang out from nearby. There was a split second of silence before they heard the sounds of glass breaking and walls being torn through; as well as the panicked screams and shouts of students and teachers alike. Unlike everyone who began to pour out of the different rooms in swarms in a frantic to get to the exits, the two teens ran towards the source of the commotion.

When they reached the room where the wail had come from, they were shocked by what they saw. The entire room was covered in a sheet of reflective ice; some of the shapes it covered even appeared like students. The windows of the room had all shattered inward, and there was a huge slash-like gash that went across the wall and all the way through to the outside.

Jack went over to one of the frozen people and saw his own reflection in the ice. He had messy brown hair that covered his forehead and most of his ears, and dark green eyes that were full of numbed shock. He stood at about 5'9", and wore a short-sleeved red shirt and a pair of blue jeans. He started to reach out a trembling hand to touch the frozen person closest to him, but Connor grabbed his wrist before he could. He turned to look at his friend and saw him shake his head, motioning toward a pair of frozen people frozen with one of them touching the other.

Connor was taller than Jack, nearly 6' tall, and built like a linebacker. His black hair was cut short, and his dark-colored eyes were full of wariness. He wore a black leather jacket over a black _Voltaire_, his favorite musician, t-shirt and a pair of jeans. He let go of his wrist and two of them continued to look around the icy room with horrified wonder.

"What the hell did this?" Jake asked; anger and nausea building up in his gut.

"I dunno," Connor responded, his eyes watching for any sign of movement, "But I don't think it left."

"What do you—" the brown-haired teen began to say when a strangely-familiar voice cut him off.

"Get down!" it shouted in an unmistakably masculine voice, but both boys had heard enough of it and knew the actuality. Connor hit the floor without hesitation, but Jake turned around to see the same black cat that had been following him in an aggressively-frantic stance just before he was hit by something hard enough for him to go flying into the iced-over white board and crack it. As he hit the board, something very unsettling happened: his body jerked forward and another Jake was knocked out while his body fell limply to the floor. The second Jake had a metal plate in the middle of his chest and a chain extended from it and was attached to the seemingly-lifeless one.

"What the hell?" he said, holding up the chain in shock, "I'm a…spirit?"

"Move, baka!" he heard the same voice say before he was knocked to the side by the cat just before a massive fist hit the wall behind where he'd just been standing, causing pieces of ice to fall onto his body. He looked in terror at the creature it belonged to: It had dark grey skin with lines of pale blue on its sides, and was large enough that it had to hunch over to fit in the room. It slightly resembled a gorilla in appearance, though its hands had claws and its feet were like hooves. Its face was concealed behind a bone-white mask that looked like the face of a bear and had pale blue lines curling all over it. The mouth of the mask moved as it breathed, creating ice crystals with each breath, and there was a hole in the middle of its chest.

"A Hollow? What the fuck is going on?" Jake demanded as the Hollow pulled its fist back.

"Now's not the time for explanations," the cat told him, watching the Hollow closely, "You and your friend need to leave!"

"But, wait, you're…Yoruichi," the teen said in disbelief, realization finally setting in, "And you've been following me. Did you know this was going to happen?"

"Didn't you hear me?" the cat said, turning its head back to look at him, "Get out of—!"

"Look out!" Connor's voice broke in before its owner tackled both of them to the side just before the Hollow's hand slammed into where they'd been moments before. The Hollow let out a frustrated wail as it realized its hand missed, while Jake found himself shorter of breath than the others.

Yoruichi, the cat, noticed this and said, "It's too dangerous for you to remain in spirit form. With the way that thing is attacking, it won't be long until it accidently breaks your Chain of Fate. Or eats you or crushes your body."

Before either of them could say or do anything, a new, yet greatly familiar, figure showed up in front of them faster than should be possible. The newcomer wore a green-and-white striped bucket hat over his messy light-blonde hair, a black coat with diamonds on the bottom, a pair of traditional wooden Japanese sandals, green traditional Japanese clothing, and an unsheathed cane sword in his right hand. He looked back at the three and revealed grey eyes partially hidden in shadow by his hat.

"About time, Kisuke-kun!" Yoruichi shouted, though the use of the unnecessary honorifics in English showed that the cat was only teasing, "This one's a lot stronger than we thought!"

"I'm sure you could've handled it yourself, Yoruichi-san," Kisuke said with an _almost_-sincere grin, "For you it should be child's play."

"Keeping these two from getting themselves killed had me distracted!" the cat said defensively.

Before Kisuke could respond, the Hollow brought his hands down, with one closed into a fist and the other wrapped around it, in an attempt to smash him. However, the blonde-haired man brought up his free hand and caught it with ease, the force behind the blow not even fazing him as the floor cracked beneath his feet.

He frowned up at the creature that dwarfed him in size, but obviously not power, and spoke in a condescending tone, "It's impolite to attack someone that's talking, even if you're a monster. I'll have to teach you a lesson."

Before the Hollow had time to react, Kisuke brought the blade up and cut off its hands at the wrist. The beast howled in agony and stumbled back as its appendages fell to the ground with dull _thuds_. The Hollow proceeded to charge at the man in the green-and-white striped bucket hat in a blind fury. Kisuke let out an over-dramatized yawn as he simply sliced it in half with the sword. He shook the black Hollow blood off his blade as the now-purified spirit turned into spirit particles, dismembered hands and all.

"It really _is _Urahara…" Connor breathed as the two teens released the breath they didn't know they'd been holding in. The man, an ex-_Soul Reaper_ they realized, opened his mouth to say something when he suddenly dodged to the side; revealing a large, bone-white spike flying at a breakneck speed at the other three.

Everything seemed to move in slow motion around Jake as he saw Connor and Yoruichi dive to the side. The lance-like object continued to fly towards him and he finally tried to follow the others' example as he dove in the opposite direction. The spike sailed past him, whistling as it split the air and he thought he was safe…until it hit something and he felt like a massive weight had been placed on his chest, making it even _harder _to breathe.

He turned to see what it had hit, feeling as if he were moving through gelatin, and saw a sight that made him go pale. The spike had impaled a short ways away from him, but that wasn't why he'd turned pale. The spike had impaled through the chest of his physical body, blood from the wound pooling underneath his body, and the chain on his chest was broken and only had half a dozen links on it, the last one cracked in half.

"Oh, shit…" he whispered, his eyes as big as dinner plates.

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Jacy: And there's chapter 1!

Connor: Hope you enjoyed it!

Jacy: Catch ya later!


	2. Chapter 2

Yeah, so I'm not dead as it turns out, but I've had to deal with life for quite a while, as well as reading over some of my other stories. In all honesty, I'm planning on scrapping a couple and redoing them, *cough* Forgotten Saga *cough*, but I'll try to update this one as often as I can.

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach or any of the copyrighted things I use, I do however own my OCs and this story.

xRxExVxOxLxUxTxIxOxNx

Bleach: Revolution

Chapter 2: Split Paths

"Oh, shit..." Jake murmured, his eyes wide in realization. The world around him seemed to slow as his breathing got heavier, and he was oblivious to the sound of Yoruichi calling him. Finally, Urahara flash-stepped over to where he stood frozen and brought him over to where the black cat and Connor were taking cover behind a large chunk of frozen rubble from the ceiling.

"Jake? Is that...?" his friend questioned him in disbelief as his eyes locked onto the broken chain on his chest.

The question snapping him out of his trance, the teen responded slightly jokingly, "It looks like I won't be seeing what my parents had in mind for dinner tonight, huh?"

"Don't be so down," Yoruichi told him, the cat's eyes locked onto Urahara as he fought off several Hollows that were attempting to get to the fresh Plus that was Jake, "Kisuke-kun always has a plan in mind, even if he doesn't always tell everyone what it is."

"So, I might NOT be dead?" Jake asked hopefully.

"Oh, you're very much dead," Urahara called, dodging a swipe from one of the Hollow's massive hands, "but we have plenty of time to fix it."

"Plenty of time? What are you-" Connor began to ask before Jake cut him off with a shout of agony. He turned to see that the broken chain on his friend's chest had sprouted an almost cartoonish-looking mouth and had begun eating itself.

"Holy shit..." the black-haired teen breathed, astonished. Yoruichi turned to see and the cat's eyes widened.

"Kisuke, we might not have as long as you think!" the black feline shouted as the blonde-haired man narrowly avoided a likely fatal blow from one of the corrupted spirits, escaping with only a cut across his chest.

"His Hollowfication has already started?" the ex-Captain asked curiously, dispatching the Hollow that had scratched quickly, "Either his untapped Reishi is greater than we considered, or he WANTS to become a Hollow."

"Will you two stop worrying about why and actually DO something about it?" Connor demanded, trying to keep his friend from convulsing as more and more of the chain ate itself.

"Unfortunately, even if we COULD get him away from here, we don't have the time to help him," Urahara stated calmly, appearing in front of the teenager in a flash, "There's only one thing we CAN do for him..."

Kisuke began to bring his cane-sword down to stab Jake, but before he could or Connor could move to stop him, the shopkeeper was sent flying by a pair of feet to his face. In his place stood a woman who looked to be no older than either of the teenagers.

She had shoulder-length black hair with bright red streaks and wore an outfit that consisted of a pair of loose white pants with black borders and a sleeveless top of the same color scheme. She wore a black sash around her waist and socks of the same color, with a pair of Japanese sandals that were white. At her waist was a sheathed katana with a hilt that resembled the head of a dragon, it's body made into a design that curled around the sheathe. On top of her head was what resembled the top half of a dragon's skull, the horns curling like ram's horns.

"Sorry, but I can't let you do that," she said, grabbing Jake by his shirt and tossing him over her shoulders, "This one has the potential to become an Espada, and we need as many powerful Arrancar as we can find."

Before any of them could do anything, she vanished in the blink of an eye. Almost immediately Yoruichi could feel as all of the Hollows receded back into Hueco Mundo, their safe haven. Urahara walked back over to the two and Connor grabbed him and picked him up off his feet.

"You let her get away with him!" he shouted angrily, all of his awe at the man gone in an instant.

"Yes, your friend is gone," Kisuke responded calmly, unbothered, "but, you may be able to get him back."

"Why the hell can't you do it?" the enraged teenager demanded, "It's your fault this happened in the first place!"

"You're angry and you're looking for someone to blame," a familiar feminine voice from behind Connor said coolly, "Because you're angry you couldn't protect your friend, we can help you so that won't happen again."

The teen turned his head to see that Yoruichi had assumed her human form, that of an attractive dark-skinned woman with long purple hair but with the same piercing golden eyes. The disconcerting thing was, she was nude.

"Shit, you really do do that!" he exclaimed, dropping Urahara as he rushed to avert his eyes.

"Do you want our help to train you?" Kisuke asked, brushing himself off.

"Train me for what?" he asked, bringing his dark eyes to look up at the ex-Captain.

"To rescue your friend you'll need to be more than just you," Yoruichi explained, her golden eyes watching the teen closely, "You'll have to become a Soul Reaper."

"The training will be bru-" Urahara began, before Connor cut him off.

"I'll do it," he said, his eyes aflame with determination, "I owe Jake to at least try."

"Good," Kisuke said, grinning toothily.

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As Jake's eyes opened, he found that didn't know who or where he was. All he knew was...he was dead. He wasn't sure how he knew that, but he did.

He sat up in the bed he was lying on only to notice that he was in a very Japanese-esque bedroom and that he was nude. Strangely, it didn't seem to bother him as he searched the room for something to cover himself with. Just as he realized there was nothing but the blanket he was under, the paper sliding door to the room opened.

"Hey, you're awake," the same girl that had grabbed him greeted him, though he was unaware of who she was, "Looks like 7 lost the bet."

"Who are you?" Jake questioned, cocking his head to the side curiously, "Who am I? Where am I?"

"Slow down, guy," she told him, walking over to him, "I can't answer the second one, but as for the first one my name's Marialiette, but just call me Maria. As for where you are, you are in Los Noches. Or, what's left and been added to it since it was mostly destroyed."

"Los Noches..." the teen repeated softly, the name nagging at the back of his mind. It was...so familiar, like from a dream, or another life.

"Yeah, you're not slow are you?" she asked, turning his head side to side, examining it.

"No, it's just...nevermind," he sighed, bringing his eyes up to look at her, "Why am I here?"

Maria smirked at that as she responded, "You're going to help us rebuild the Espada. That is, if the Primera says you're what we're looking for."

"Am I going to meet the Primera nude?" Jake asked, his gaze calm and unbothered.

"Oh, right," she said sheepishly, rubbing the back of her head as she stood back up, "I'll be right back."

Maria quickly hurried out of the room, likely going to find him some clothes. Once she was gone, he got up off the bed and walked over to the small vanity in the corner. He finally saw his appearance and he was unsure why it unsettled him.

His brown hair was messy and spiky, having grown a bit longer, and partially covered his amber-colored eyes. He had become more toned than he somehow knew he was before. On the left side of his chest was a small hole that went all the way through to the other side, and around his neck was the bone-white jaw of a canine that continued onto the other side where the rest of the skull was. On the top part, however, there were still ears.

"What...am I?" he whispered aloud, touching the jaw and finding it was as hard as rock. He suddenly found his eyes drawn to the bed and turned to find a pair of twin, sheathed tonto.

One of them had a grey sheathe and the hilt was black with red diamonds made from the gaps in the material on it, while the other was reversed with a black sheathe and a grey and red hilt. The guards on both of them, however, was a wolf's head with the blade coming from its mouth into the sheathe.

The black hilted one seemed...darker than the other one, drawing the amnesiac Jake towards it. He walked over and was about to pick it up when he heard the door slide open again, revealing Maria with a folded set of clothes resembling her own.

"Oh, I didn't think you'd be out of the bed yet," she said awkwardly, trying to hide the fact that she was eyeing him and doing poorly, "Well, I got you some clothes."

"Oh, thanks," he responded embarrassedly, taking the clothes from her and quickly put on the pants, "Whose swords are those?"

Maria turned to the bed and, upon seeing the pair of twin tonto, smirked and said, "You're officially an Arrancar now. Those are your zanpakuto, and they have the rest of your power sealed in them. By the fact that you have two, I can already tell that you're going to be a tough one."

"Yeah..." Jake said softly as he finished tying the sash around his waist and put the short-sleeved, open shirt before picking up the grey-hilted blade and sticking it into the sash on his left hip, doing the same with the other on his right.

"C'mon," she said encouragingly, beckoning him with a smile as she walked toward the door, "You gotta meet the Primera. He's a bit of a slouch, but since he and his Fraccion are the only ones left of the original Espada it's kinda understandable."

"What's his name?" the amnesiac new Arrancar asked curiously, following her out the door and into the hallway.

"Coyote Starrk," she said, leading him through the corridor, "and his Fraccion is Lilynette Gingerbuck."

'_Those names..._' Jake thought to himself, maneuvering after Maria with ease through the hallways, '_They're familiar, too_.'

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	3. Chapter 3

One of my friends read this a while back and convinced me to keep working on it, I'll try to post a weekly update for it. Enjoy.

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the copyrighted things that I use; I do, however, own my OCs and this story.

xRxExVxOxLxUxTxIxOxNx

Chapter 3: Across the Line

Jake had to admit, something seemed...off as he walked behind Maria. At the back of his mind there was something he felt, a feeling that made him uneasy. It also didn't help that he had been hearing voices that were both familiar and unknown to him, as well as the fact that Maria didn't seem to be hearing them. Though maybe it was better that she didn't.

"C'mon, just take her now!" One of them said, sounding like it was just whispering into his left ear. The voice was undoubtedly male, but it was distorted and almost...evil-sounding. The voice continued, "Don't tell me you can't SMELL it, she's WAITING for it!"

"Shut up," Jake muttered under his breath, feeling a pounding headache beginning to start. Maria looked at him over her shoulder, a knowing glint in her eyes and a mischievous smirk curling her lips to reveal her teeth were pointed.

"LOOK at that!" The voice continued, growing more fervent, "She knows what you're fighting; she finds it funny! Show her who's boss and take her!"

"Oh, be quiet," the other voice said finally, its voice sounding like a mother scolding a child. However, though the voice was feminine, it sounded more like that of a teenager. "Can't you see you're giving him a headache? Leave him be."

"You'd like that, wouldn't you?" The male voice growled, made only more frightening by the almost demonic overtone, "Then you can try to sway him to the side of the straight and narrow; away from his true nature!"

"His true nature is for him to decide, not a brute like you," the female countered, "besides-"

"Shut up!" Jake shouted out-loud, silencing both voices and stopping in place. Maria did the same and turned around to look at him, concerned. He was breathing heavily, and black smoke was curling off of both of the blades at his sides.

"You're hearing someone in your head, aren't you?" She asked calmly, placing her hands on his shoulders to steady him. His amber eyes locked with her dark-red and he nodded slowly.

"Yeah," he said, his voice quiet, "they were arguing. One of them was..."

When he trailed off, she cocked her head to the side. Speaking curiously, she said, "They? You're hearing more than one?"

He blinked in confusion, brows furrowing, "Two, yeah. Why? Should it only be one?"

"Well, normally, yes," she responded, taking her hands off his shoulders, "An Arrancar's blade is the manifestation our broken masks take; it's where we have our true forms. Occasionally, our true forms are able to speak to us, almost like Soul Reapers and their zanpakuto; however, having more than one spirit, Arrancar or otherwise, is almost unheard of."

"Did you hear that?" The male voice spoke up, a tone of dark humor in his voice, "She called us special."

"I find that a little far-fetched," Jake said, grimacing as he ignored the voice in his head, "I mean, there have to be more than just myself with this...problem."

"Problem?!" The female voice said indignantly, "Is that how you view us? We are you; you're the problem!"

"It's not a problem," Maria told him, noticing how he cringed and realizing that his sprits were likely berating him for his choice of words, "it's just very rare. In time, you'll be able to release your true form and be all the stronger for it. You might even surpass me and take the heavily disputed place as the number 2 Espada."

"You said something about numbers before, and the Espada, too," Jake said, seizing the chance to change the subject and learn a bit more about who he was going to be meeting, "What are they, exactly?"

"Well," she said, twirling a loose strand of her crimson hair between her fingers, "the Espada are the top-ranked Arrancar that exist this far. Originally the Espada served a rogue Soul Reaper that promised to help us destroy the Soul Society and all the Soul Reapers. He betrayed us in the end, and all but Starrk, Lilynette, and the former number 3 and her fracciones were killed. But that was before my time. Now, we stand as the ruling body of Hueco Mundo. The numbers are how we rank among the Arrancars; There's Starrk and Lilynette, the Primera; currently we have no Segunda because Starrk refuses to give anyone the position; me, the Tercera; then there's Tristan Varela, the Cuarta; Yuudai Watanabe, the Quinto; Haruki Castello, the Sexta; Ceferino Puerta, the Septima; Ryouichi Kawaguchi, the Octava; and Kazuki Ueda, the Novena."

Slowly, it clicked in Jake's head that the titles were in Spanish. However, he couldn't remember why that struck a chord of familiarity in him.

"You're the number 3?" He asked curiously, looking at her in a new light. At his words, she stood up a bit straighter and a glint of pride shone in her eyes.

"I am," she said, grinning, "and the only female Arrancar in the Espada. It's become almost a tradition for the Tercera to be a female; I as well as the past two have been."

"I hope I don't cause that tradition to break," he said wryly, "but I doubt that'll be the case. I don't think I'll make the cut."

"I think you'll certainly make it," she told him with utter surety, holding out her hand for him, "and don't you dare think otherwise. It was my decision to go get you before you were sent to the Soul Society, don't you dare make that pointless, got it?"

Jake grinned, glad his inner voices didn't comment on her words, and said, "I'll give it my best shot, Maria."

He took his hand and slapped his palm to hers, both of them wrapping their fingers around the back of the other's hands. They released after a moment, with the newest Arrancar filled with a strange determination to become a part of this. After all, it couldn't hurt and maybe he'd regain his memory, as well. 

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Connor dodged another kick from the extremely agile Yoruichi, only to have her roll and spin kick him in one motion. The force sent him flying into one of the nearby boulders, cracking it. He fell to the ground, groaning as he remembered what he was supposed to be doing.

"Land a single, solid hit on Yoruichi," the words of the blonde shopkeeper rang in his head, sounding as cheery as when the man had said them, "That is, if you survive long enough to figure out how."

He quickly rolled to the side to avoid the Flash Goddess's kick, watching in shock as she completely shattered the boulder. He immediately got to his feet, hoping to catch her off-guard after her attack. It backfired as she was suddenly right in his face, knocking his feet out from under him and placing a fierce palm strike to his chest. He hit the ground hard, making a small crater in the ground.

She leaped back, watching with a calm expression as she waited to see if he would move. She felt at least two ribs break in that hit, and at least three more fracture, not to mention the fractured arm he had from hitting the boulder.

Connor rolled to his side, coughing up blood as he felt blackness creeping up on him. He felt broken, weak, and USELESS. If he couldn't even land a single hit on Yoruichi, then there was no way in hell he'd be able to save Jake. And he wouldn't let his friend stay in the hands of whoever had taken him. He needed the strength, the power, to help his friend.

"You want power...?" He heard a voice that sounded not unlike his own, but darker, whisper in his head, "You want strength? I can give you all you'll ever need..."

"Then give it to me..." He wheezed in response, using his good arm to help he try to stand. He had a blaze of fury alight in his eyes, "Whoever, WHATEVER, you are, give me the power I want. I don't care how, but I want to save my friend, no matter the cost."

He heard the voice chuckle darkly before he felt a huge jolt of intense pain shoot through his body. It felt as through he was being ripped apart agonizingly slow, but as the pain increased, so did his drive to get up. And he did stand, using both his fractured arm and his good one. A mask of pure black smoke covered his face, and his body was coated in the dark smoke.

The mask had only a single eye, sitting in the middle of it and it took up almost the entirety of it when open. It was sideways on the face, with an orange-colored pupil surrounded by black. A huge, maniacal grin was spread across its face, with all of its pointed teeth showing.

Yoruichi watched in stunned shock as Connor pulled himself out of the crater and began walking toward her, a forked tongue shooting between the mask of the teeth. Moving quickly, she used her shunpo to appear right in front of him and delivered a sharp knee to his chest and a palm strike across his face.

It felt like she'd struck an unyielding metal when she made contact, Connor not even reacting to her attacks. Instead, his dark eyes looked at her through the smoky orange one with disdain.

"I can see you move," he said quietly, his voice overlaid with a darker one. Before she could respond, he hit her in her gut with enough force to knock the wind out of her and then grabbed her head and head-butted her, sending her flying back.

She rolled in mid-air and landed in a crouch, skidding when she hit the ground. Her amber gaze hardened as she watched him simply stand in the same spot, and ethereal tail waving to and fro in an almost hypnotic fashion.

'This isn't good,' she thought to herself, narrowing her eyes as she thought she saw another figure beside Connor before it vanished. 'Where the hell is Kisuke? I need to shut this kid down to keep him from getting out of the training room.'

She takes a deep breath as the excess clothing on her arms and back is ripped apart by her sudden burst of Reiatsu. The bluish-white energy covered her form, and as she opened her eyes they were filled with a cold sort of determination.

"Shunkō," she said quietly before she shot off towards the drastically overpowered Connor at a speed even she couldn't follow. She hit the teen in the middle of her chest with a closed fist, hearing as several more of his ribs broke upon contact and the bluish-white energy dissipated some of they dark-grey smoke and burnt off the middle of his shirt. Almost immediately, though, the smoke reformed and grabbed a hold of the violet-haired woman's leg with an iron grip.

"Silly, silly," only the dark voice spoke, coming through the mouth of the mask while Connor's remained shut, "you left yourself wide open."

Its mouth opened wide and its forked tongue licked at the excess energy pouring off Yoruichi before it took a huge bite of it. The former captain's eyes widened in shock as the strange entity began eating the energy and she could feel it growing stronger as it took another bite. She quickly pulled her feet up and planted them firmly on the teen's chest before pulling her arm with all her strength. After a struggle, she managed to pull herself free and got back as far as she could, her now-dislocated arm hanging limply at her side.

"What the hell is he?" She said aloud, quickly getting rid of her Shunkō lest the monster in control of Connor eat more of it and get even stronger.

"Something that blurs the line between Shinigami and Hollows even more than the Vizoreds and Arrancars," she heard Kisuke say from beside her and she turned to see the man standing there, his zanpakuto out and released to its Shikai state.

"Where the hell were you?" She demanded angrily, jabbing the man in his chest with her good hand, "That...thing started eating my Reiatsu!"

"I was watching," he said wryly, pulling out his fan and covering his mild smirk with it, "I needed to see if what I thought was true."

"So you knew that thing was inside him?" She asked furiously," And you still let me fight him?!"

"I wasn't certain," he told her defensively, shutting his fan to show his serious look, "but now that I am, I'll shut him down. You stay back, Yoruichi."

He used his shunpo to disappear before she could respond. She frowned as she saw him reappear in front of Connor, his coat billowing in the gust created by the teen's rapidly growing Reiatsu.

"You've passed the first test, Connor-kun," Urahara stated calmly, pointing his blade at the teen's chest, "you can tell whoever is giving you this strength that it's time to calm down."

"No," the teen responded, his voice overlaid with the darker one once again, "With this power, I can save Jake. I can bring him home and take all the strength from the ones that took him. I can become the strongest and keep everyone safe."

"Do you think anyone wants to be saved while you're losing who you are to this being?" The man asked, pointing the tip of his sword at the large eye on the mask, "Whatever this thing is, it's the one in control right now. Take the control back and show that the power is yours, not its."

"I have a name," the mask spoke, malice dripping from its words, "I am Sin, and I am simply a part of him. I am him, but you can believe what you wish, Kisuke Urahara. And I will let him go, for now. After all, I'm not the villain, am I?"

As it finished speaking, the smoke blew away, leaving Connor barely standing. His clothes were ruined and he looked like he was going to be sick. He began to fall forward and Kisuke caught him gently.

"What...?" The teen wheezed, his dark eyes distant as his vision began to darken.

"It's not important," the blonde-haired man said, lowering him to the ground as Connor slipped out of consciousness, "but we will find out soon enough."

"I'm heading to the springs," Yoruichi's voice came from behind him and he looked over his shoulder to see her standing there, cradling her dislocated arm, "You can bring him whenever."

As she began to walk off, Kisuke spoke, "I'm sorry I didn't tell you, Yoruichi-san, but would you have tried to use Shunkō against him had you known my suspicions?"

She didn't respond, but simply walked off. Urahara sighed, taking off his hat and placing it next to where Benihime, his now-sealed blade, lay on the ground. This boy was going to change things, but the shopkeeper couldn't be sure if that creature would play a role in influencing the choices he would make.

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So, this story is finally updated…'bout time, am I right? Let me know your thoughts on it in a review…because I love reviews…I THRIVE because of them…

Till next time…


	4. Chapter 4

Jacy: Yeah, so, this chapter is really late….

Kain: Is anyone even reading this story any more?

Jacy: Of course they are!...right?

Kain: Oh? Then why haven't you gotten a review since you posted the last chapter?

Jacy: …shut up, and why are you here instead of Connor?

Kain: He moved, remember? He wasn't even the friend that convinced you to keep this story going!

Jacy: …just, cue the disclaimer…

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the copyrighted things that I use, I do, however, own my OCs and this story.

xRxExVxOxLxUxIxOxNx

Chapter 4: Powers Unleashed 

"You can't expect us to simply take you at your word," the Septima Espada, Ceferino, stated simply as he walked over to where Maria and Jake stood at the far end of the long table in the meeting room, "Saying he is worthy of the Espada with no real proof, that's foolish."

The male Arrancar wore the typical Espada uniform: white jacket, black sash, white hakama, black tabi and white zōri, but the sleeves were missing, revealing his Hollow hole on his shoulder. His mask fragment, a partial beak on the left side of his face, had two light blue lines down its side. He had a line of the same color under his left eye. The number seven was tattooed on the right side of his face, going over one of his brown eyes. His teal hair spiked up in random directions, similar to an agitated cockatoo.

"Don't talk down to me, Puerta-baka," the Tercera said, her voice laced with calm irritation, "You're just mad because you were wrong about him surviving to become an Arrancar."

"That bet has nothing to do with it!" He denied angrily, "Your reckless actions have put us all at risk!"

"Starrk said that we needed strong Arrancar to rebuild the Espada," she responded calmly, crossing her arms across her chest, "He was being watched by two agents of the Seireitei and was able to go from a soul, to Adjuchas, to Vasto Lorde, and then become an Arrancar in only a few hours and without eating other souls. His raw Spiritual Pressure has to be off the charts for any if that to be possible!"

"Or it's just a fluke!" Ceferino countered, cutting his hand through the air, "Either way, you've revealed our existence to the Shinigami! They could already-!"

"That's enough, Ceferino," a bored voice cut him off, causing the attention of everyone in the room to shift to the man sitting at the head of the table.

He had an uninterested look on his face as his blue-gray eyes looked at the Septima. He had wavy, dark brown hair that ended at the base of his neck and parted down the middle. He scratched at the faded goatee on his chin with his left hand, which had a number one tattooed on it. He wore the typical Espada outfit, but his jacket had a leather and upturned collar. His mask fragment, a fanged bottom jaw, hung around his neck like a necklace and just below it was his Hollow hole.

"Starrk-sama, I-" the teal-haired Arrancar began, but was cut off once again, though this time by the Primera's other half.

"Baka! He said that's enough, so shut up already!" Lilynette shouted, standing up in her chair as she slammed her palms down on the table. The female Arrancar could've very easily been mistaken for a middle-schooler, but her choice of clothing and Hollow-like traits showed otherwise.

She wore a pair of white colored briefs with a black line in the middle, arm-warmers with a similar color scheme, a revealing vest with a high collar, and fur-lined boots. Her Hollow hole was in the middle of her stomach, and her mask fragment had the form of a helmet with two horns, though the left one looked as though it had been cut off. The helmet covered her left eye, with a cartoonish, red flame appearing to come out the hole in the helmet where the eye would've been. Her hair was a light green, cut in a very simplistic manner. Her visible eye was pink, and full of irritation.

Her outburst caused most of the Arrancar to cringe, save for Maria, Jake, Starrk, and herself. Noticing this, the Primera raised an eyebrow. Ceferino, on the other hand, simply bowed to the higher ranked Arrancar before taking his seat.

"I think he should be tested," one of the others, a larger man, said calmly, "Give him someone to fight to see if he can stand his own as one of us."

"A good idea, Tristan," Starrk agreed, turning his gaze to the Cuarta for a moment before shifting it to Jake.

At the mention of the name, the new Arrancar looked at the highly-ranked Espada. Tristan Varela was a big man, easily the tallest one in the room, and Jake could feel the barely-restrained Reiatsu even from across the room. His hair was cut short and blonde, and his eyes were the color of the ocean just before a storm. His mask fragment covered the entirety of the right side of his face, though it left his eye untouched, and had the appearance of a bear's head.

"Who would you suggest he fight, Tristan?" The Primera Espada questioned, looking at Jake. The younger Arrancar managed to keep a calm face as they talked about him like he wasn't there, but he was starting to lose his false confidence.

"Seeing as she believes in him so strongly," the blonde Arrancar said, turning to look at the two standing at the far end of the table, "It seems only fair that Marialette should be the one to test him."

"What?!" Both Maria and Jake blurted simultaneously, their eyes going wide.

"And if he succeeds in beating her, then we will finally have our Segunda," Starrk said, sitting back in his chair.

"But, if he loses," Lilynette said, grinning mischievously, "then he dies, simple as that."

"Don't hold back, either of you," Starrk told them, "Or he will lose either way."

"That's-!" Jake began, but was cut off when Maria grabbed him by his throat and threw him through the wall and into the air, hundreds of feet above the ground.

'Shit!' He thought, panicked as he tried to look for anything to slow his descent, 'This'll be over before it even begins!'

"Baka! Gravity means nothing to you now!" He heard the male voice inside his head say angrily, "Just picture yourself standing on something solid and you will be!"

Figuring it was best not to argue as he plummeted to his doom, Jake shut his eyes and began to picture himself standing on the ground. Sure enough, he'd managed to stop his descent and was now standing in mid-air.

He didn't have long to congratulate himself, though, as Maria suddenly appeared a few feet away from him faster than he could blink. She'd drawn her blade and held it up with a single hand, a cold look on her face as she looked at him.

"This is ridiculous!" Jake shouted to her, trying to avoid fighting her, "There has to be another way!"

"Draw your blades, Jake," she said, her voice void of any emotion, "Or I will kill you before you can blink."

"Maria-!" He started before she disappeared and he felt a sharp pain on his cheek and a liquid rolling down his face. He brought his hand up to it and pulled it away to find blood on his fingers.

"Draw your blades," he heard her say, turning around to see her standing there, her back to him as her blade dripped with a bit of his blood.

"I'm not going to-!" He started to say, but she cut him off.

"Draw," she said, slicing through his left sleeve and through his hierro faster than he could follow, "Your," she continued, doing the same on his right, "Blades," she finished, stopping the tip of her blade a hairs breadth away from his eye.

He quickly jumped back, landing unsteadily as he adjusted himself, and frowned. Once again, the make voice in his head spoke up, but this time it spoke with a cold fury that made it sound calm.

"How dare she," it said, growling slightly, "How dare she cut us? How dare she make us bleed? Don't you dare let her do it again, show her our power. Make her fear the darkness. Don't hold back"

Calmly, efficiently, Jake drew his two swords, holding them back-handed, and spoke quietly, "I have to agree with him this time, I'm not going to hold back."

"Good," she said, holding out her blade and pointing it at him, "because this has barely even started."

Without a word, Jake used sonído instinctively, slicing the right horn off Maria's mask before she had even noticed he'd moved. Her eyes went wide as she turned around to see him looking at her over his shoulder, his eyes two different colors: the amber she had seen before, and a deep brown.

"Seems you're even stronger than I thought," she stated, regaining her calm as she felt with her free hand the spot where her horn had been cut off, "Looks like that rule has to be broken."

"What?" He asked, confused.

"Incendio, Infierno del Dragón!" She shouted in response as a burst of red flames burst from her sword and covered her entire body.

"She's releasing her Resurrección!" The female voice yelled, obviously caught off-guard as much as Jake was, "You need to release me or she'll kill you the moment she's finished!"

"Why should he release you?!" The make voice shouted angrily, "I'm HIS Resurrección, for it to be fair he should release me!"

"He doesn't have the time to adjust to you!" The female countered, "I'll be easier for him to use!"

"Would you both shut up and tell me how to release one of you?!" Jake shouted at the voices out loud.

"You can have this one," the make conceded reluctantly, obviously miffed, "But the next fight's mine!"

"Whatever, now let your mind go blank," she said calmly, and Jake closed his eyes and took a deep breath, "call out the words that come to you, call my name!"

"Hauru, Shadōurufu!" He shouted, a black and gray aura of Reiatsu engulfing him. By the time both of the combatants releases had finished, both had vastly different appearances.

Maria had lost her clothing and was now covered in various pieces of white armor that resembled bone. Her feet and hands had become clawed, and she had the bone-like substances on her legs, arms, chest, and lower body. Her stomach was left relatively bare, where her Hollow hole was now visible and the number three was tattooed around it, while her head was covered by a dragon's skull that was missing the right horn. Her blood-red eyes looked at her opponent with a mixture of confusion, shock, and anger.

Jake's outfit had reversed in colors, becoming not unlike the Shihakushō of a Shinigami, but it was missing the entire left sleeve. Instead, there was a black gauntlet that went up to his elbow that had clawed fingertips and grey fur on the back of it. The majority of his mask fragment had been broken off during his transformation, leaving only one of the ears and a small piece of the bottom jaw. He'd placed his other sword back into its sheathe, leaving him a free hand.

"What...?" Maria said, her voice now sounding more Hollow-like, "What the hell?"

"I have no idea, but right now I don't care," Jake said simply, turning his determined, brown-eyed gaze onto her, "you shouldn't question things in the middle of a fight, after all." 

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When Connor came to, something felt off. The pain he knew he should be feeling, the pain from his bruises and various broken bones, wasn't there; instead, there was just a simple numbness that made everything seem like a dream. However, the recent events came back to him in a flash, making his eyes open as he realized it wasn't a dream.

He was momentarily blinded by the light from the artificial sun in the training ground, though he was able to hear the familiar voice off to his right very clearly, "You're awake, Kisuke and I were sure you'd be out for at least half a day with the injuries you had, neither of us figured it would only take a few hours."

After his eyes adjusted, he turned to find none other than Yoruichi sitting at the edge of the pseudo-tub of rock filled with warm water that he was in. She was fully clothed, much to his relief, though he could see her hair was damp, meaning she'd likely been in the water with him while he was unconscious.

"Before you go checking yourself, you're fine," she stated calmly, as if reading his mind, "While these aren't as good as the ones in the Sōkyoku Hill Training Ground, the waters in the hot springs can heal all but the most fatal of injuries."

"So, I'm completely healed," he said, not as a question, holding up his hand and flexing it into a fist.

"Physically, yes," she agreed, looking over at him, "As for your Reiatsu and Spiritual Pressure, I can't say."

"What happened to me?" He asked quietly, bringing his arm back into the water slowly, "What was that thing that helped me?"

"I don't know," she admitted, shaking her head, "Kisuke might have some idea, but I don't have a clue. But I can tell you that whatever it was, while it was a piece of your power, it wasn't your zanpakuto."

"So it's still somewhere inside me, huh?" He stated, looking down at his torso, "Waiting for another chance for me to ask for its power, just like Ichigo's Inner-Hollow?"

"No," she said, looking at him with a serious face, "Whatever that thing was, it was on a completely different level than Ichigo's Inner-Hollow."

They were both silent for a while before he spoke again, this time even more somber, "Did you know that Jake and I were being followed by someone other than you and Urahara?"

"We had suspicions," she admitted, "though we had no idea it was someone on that level."

"You mean you didn't know that the Arrancars had been watching us," he said, looking at her with fury in his eyes.

"No," she said, meeting his gaze with her own calm one, "We had no idea that a group of Arrancar had taken an interest in your friend."

"Did you know there were some still left?" He asked, his voice louder, harsher, "Did you have any clue that there were Arrancar that were still alive?!"

"Yes, we knew that some had survived the War," Yoruichi said, "Starrk and his partner Lilynette, the Tercera Tier Halibel and her Fraccíones, Orihime Inoue found them and healed their injuries, believing they deserved a second chance. There was also the former Tercera, Nelliel Tu Odelschwanck, who survived as well but was pardoned for her actions in aiding Ichigo when he went to rescue Inoue-san."

"Why did you let then get away?" He asked, looking down for a moment before turning to look at her with his eyes now a blazing orange, "Why didn't you stop them to keep thus from happening?!"

"This is a strange way to keep someone calm, Yoruichi-san," a familiar voice commented and the two turned to see Urahara making his way toward them. He had his cane in one hand, and a pile of fresh clothes in the other.

He came to a stop when he was at the edge of the tub and placed the clothes down on the ground, placing a towel down next to them.

"Where were you?" Connor asked, turning his angry, orange gaze to the former Shinigami.

"Getting you some new clothes," he stated simply, looking down at the teen with his blue-gray eyes, "and adjusting the memories of your family and the memories of your friend's parents to keep them from worrying about either of you."

"Who the hell gave you the right to just mess with people's heads?!" Connor demanded angrily.

"The Head-Captain," he answered calmly, "but even if he hadn't, would you rather have your parents worry themselves trying to find you after your school was attacked? Or Jake's parents? Do you want them to know that their only son is dead?"

The teen had managed to regain his calm, and he asked, "Is it possible for him to become an Arrancar? Even without the Hōgyoku?"

At this, Urahara frowned and Yoruichi looked back over her shoulder to see how the man would respond. After a moment of silence, he responded, "There were mentions of Arrancar that had achieved their levels without the use of the Hōgyoku."

"But could he?" The dark-eyed teen pressed, "Could Jake become an Arrancar? An Espada, even?"

"It's very likely that he could become an Arrancar," he admitted, placing both hands on his cane, "Even without eating souls or other Hollows, your friend's Reiatsu was uncommonly high, it rivals Kurosaki's when he regained his powers during the events with the Fullbringers, maybe even higher than that. It is entirely possible that he is already among their numbers, likely very high up in them."

"There's no way in hell he'd join them," the teen stated, though his words seemed hollow, "Jake's...he's too good a person to become one of them. His heart wouldn't let him."

"I'm sorry, Connor," Yoruichi said quietly, her words sincere, "but if your friend really has become a Hollow, even an Arrancar, then that means he's no longer got a heart."

"Shut up!" He shouted, slamming his fist on the rock wall of the tub, "You don't know him!"

"Get out and dry off," Urahara said calmly, "we need to get started on the next level of your training."

Without another word, both he and Yoruichi used their shunpo and were gone, leaving him alone. Getting out of the tub, the teen grabbed the towel and went over what he'd learned as he dried himself. It was entirely possible that his friend had become a monster, but somehow that didn't sit right in his head.

"He's no more a monster than I am," Connor stated aloud, trying to convince himself as he began to pull on the clothes. When he'd finished he noticed that he was wearing an Onmitsukidō Punishment Force uniform, minus the mask. He figured it was probably so it was easier for him to move.

"It fits you well," he heard Yoruichi say from behind him and he spun around to find her standing atop one of the boulders with her arms crossed.

"Yeah," he agreed, slipping into a fighting stance. At this, she laughed, causing him to frown and asked, "What's so funny?"

"Oh, you're not fighting me," she stated, causing a cold chill to run up his spine.

"Then-" he began before he felt something hit the middle of his back, hard. There was a small release of Reiatsu before his soul was shoved out of his body, attached to his body by the sane Chain of Fate that Jake's had been. As his now-lifeless physical body fell to the ground, Connor's spiritual one spun around to find Urahara standing there, holding his cane up to show the skull covered in blue flames on the bottom.

"It won't be me, either, so don't worry," he said, a grin on his face as he brought his cane down and pulled out his paper fan.

"Who am I fighting?!" The teen demanded, his eyes flashing orange once again.

"The kid seems like he's got a bit of monster in him," a deep, and very aggressive-sounding make voice said from behind Connor. Feeling a spark of cold terror running through his body, he turned his head to look over his shoulder with wide eyes. The voice continued, "I like him already."

Not far off, the paper doors of a Senkaimon were opening to reveal three people. One was a huge man that had a blood-thirsty grin in his face. His hair was dark and stringy, but wasn't suck up in the spikes that Connor had expected, but instead fell back over his neck. He had a long scar running down the left side of his face, including across his eye, but he wore an eyepatch on his other eye. He wore a Shinigami outfit, though the front was open to reveal his muscular and scarred chest, and a captain's haori that had the sleeves ripped off over it. He already had his zanpakuto out and held across one of his shoulders.

Hanging from his other shoulder was what appeared to be a child at least half the man's size. She wore the typical Shinigami outfit as well, though she wore a wooden badge on her arm and a cross-bone hair clip on the left side of her bubble-gum pink hair.

The third was a man considerably shorter than the other man, but wearing a sleeveless captain's haori with a high collar and gold edges, as well as small, light gold tassels attached to the corners of the collar. He wore white, fingerless tekkou that covered only the backs of his hands and his long black hair had hairpieces at the back.

"Ah, I'm glad you could make it," Urahara said calmly, looking over at the three approaching Shinigami, "Byakuya-taicho, Kenpachi-taicho, Yachiru-chan."

"This is the one?" Byakuya stated simply, looking at the teen with disdain, "The one that you think is capable of finding and destroying the remaining Espada?"

"I never said destroy, Byakuya-san," the blonde pointed out, "I simply said that he could prove useful in finding and making contact with them. By the fact that you're here, I assume that you and Kenpachi-san have agreed to help train him?"

"Ken-chan's always up for a fight!" Yachiru said excitedly, a childish grin on her face, "And he's hasn't been this excited since he fought Ichi!"

"So, kid, you ready to fight?" The monster of a man asked, looking down at Connor, his wild grin scaring the hell out of the teenager.

"Are you insane?!" The teen shouted, turning on Urahara, "You're having me fight Captains?! They'll kill me!"

"If you're lucky," the shopkeeper said cheerfully, "You can start whenever you wish, Kenpachi-taicho."

"Wha-!" Connor started before he was kicked in his back hard enough to send him flying. He rolled and skidded for a while before managing to stop and land in a crouch. He looked up to see Kenpachi approaching him slowly, Yachiru having left his shoulder and likely watching somewhere nearby with the others.

"Better hurry up and get your sword, kid," the huge Shinigami stated, pointing his battered zanpakuto at Connor, "Otherwise, you'll be killed!"

'I'm going to die!' Connor thought frantically, 'This monster's gonna kill me!'

"Is that a fact?" A deep, almost mechanical-sounding voice stated. Startled, Connor looked around, but saw no one but the man approaching him. The voice spoke again, this time there was almost a note of amusement in its tone, "You think I'd let you see me this early? It's not that easy, boy. However, you need a weapon, do you not?"

"Yes," Connor responded aloud, causing Kenpachi to pause, "I need a weapon."

"Then feel your power awaken!" The voice shouted as a light-grey aura engulfed Connor, "Wield me, Connor Caelan, and we shall fight your enemies!"

When the aura faded, Connor's appearance had changed. He no longer had the Chain of Fate attaching him to his physical body, and he now wore the shihakushō of a Shinigami. At his waist was the sheathe for his blade, but he held his zanpakuto out. Unlike the typical sealed zanpakuto, his had the appearance of a European broadsword, though he held it up with only one arm.

"Nice one," Kenpachi stated, his bloodthirsty grin only getting wider, "now we can really begin!"

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Yeah, there's the (really late) chapter update. But Kain's right guys; I haven't seen any reviews for this story yet…makes me sad. C'mon, lemme know what you think! …if there is anyone reading it…


	5. Chapter 5

Jacy: And we are back, and I've got nothing to say!

Kain: Cue disclaimer?

Jacy: Cue Disclaimer!

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the copyrighted things that I use, I do, however, own my OCs and this story.

xRxExVxOxLxUxTxIxOxNx

Chapter 5: Out of the Frying Pan

Connor felt the ground beneath him buckle and crack as he braced himself from blocking yet another of Kenpachi's slashes. He lost count how many he'd blocked, but each time he did, he knew it was only a matter of time before he either got hit or his sword became to heavy for him to hold.

"Is blocking all you can do?" The captain asked, his grin getting bigger, "It's no fun unless you fight back!"

'He's right, in his crazy sort of way,' Connor admitted to himself as he jumped back from Kenpachi, 'I can't expect to win if I don't attack, but fighting him head on would be suicide!'

"Fights are always head on," the voice of Sin whispered in his ear, "And with my help, you'll never lose."

"No, not again," Connor muttered, shaking his head. Almost immediately afterwards, he felt a cold chill run down his spine and managed to bring his blade up just in time to block the brunt of Kenpachi's attack. However, he was still dealt a small cut on his shoulder.

"Pay attention, or you'll die," the man told him while the teen was barely able to hold back his blade.

Frowning, Connor managed to push Kenpachi back enough for him to jump back out of his reach. Breathing heavily, Connor brought his other hand to the hilt of his sword to help steady it.

"You asked for my help once," Sin pointed out, "Why not ask me again? It's no different than getting strength from your zanpakuto."

"Shut up," he said, growing irritated, "stop distracting me."

Connor kept his gaze locked on Kenpachi as the man ran at him again, managing to block his slash with only a small amount of struggling. Once again, he shoved the man back, but this time he tried to slash at him as he did. The blade hit him, but didn't do anything except cut a gap in his clothing; his skin remaining completely intact.

"Nice try," Kenpachi said, grinning his blood-thirsty grin, "but a sword like that'll never be able to cut me. I'm surprised it didn't break from you trying."

"W-what?" Connor said, panicked, as his eyes went wide and he leapt back several feet to put distance between him and his opponent.

"You need my power, Connor," Sin said gleefully, "You and your sword haven't truly connected, your sword wouldn't tell you his name even if you were on the brink of death."

Looking to the sword in his hands, Connor spoke pleadingly, "Tell me your name. Give me the power I need, please! I don't want to die, not yet! I need to save Jake, I can't die like this!"

His sword didn't respond, but Sin did, "See? He could care less what happens to you, but I can give you the power you need. You just need to ask."

Connor's shoulders slumped in defeat, causing Kenpachi to pause, confused. The teen had been fighting with determination up until now, from the moment he'd gotten his sword, but now it seemed as though he'd given up.

"I'm not evil, Connor," Sin whispered, though his malicious tone made it hard to believe, "What I am, what WE are, is the next level of power. We take it from our opponents, eating the weak to become strong. It's not evil, not unless you think what you are is evil."

"No..." Connor whispered, his eyes beginning to burn with determination.

His statement caught the strange entity off-guard, and Sin responded, "What?"

"I said no, Sin," the teen said, standing up straight once again and looking into the eyes of his opponent, "I don't think you're evil, but I don't want to take power from everyone I fight. I want to get stronger on my own, I want to prove I can save Jake with my own power, not by stealing someone else's."

"Then, you don't want my help," Sin said, it wasn't a question.

"I didn't say that," Connor grinned, mimicking the one that had returned to Kenpachi's face, "now lend me your power, Sin, because I'm going to win this fight."

"Of course...partner," the entity agreed, and the teen could almost see the grin on the creature's face. He didn't have long, though, as a black mist began to cover his body. It formed into a more solid one than before, the mask of Sin once again opening its massive orange eye. The same ethereal tail began its hypnotic movement, and his clawed hands held onto his sword with both hands.

Without a word, Connor used shunpo to land a hit on Kenpachi's right shoulder, this time cutting through his skin and muscle to make the larger man bleed. Again, the teen moved quickly and slashed his other shoulder to the same effect. He came to a stop in front of the Shinigami captain, his eyes full of determination as he looked at him through the semi-transparent mask.

"Now that's more like it!" Kenpachi shouted, excited by the loss of his own blood, "You're finally showing your power!"

"Here," Connor spoke, his voice overlaid with Sin's, "have another taste."

He swung his sword at the man's chest, but Kenpachi blocked the strike with his own, chipped blade. When the two swords connected, an explosion of power shot out, cracking and shattering several boulders around them. Connor pulled his sword back and continued to press the offensive, though he only left glancing blows and occasionally got hit as well. After a while, he backed off a bit, panting.

Kenpachi's sword had cut through his pseudo-armor, leaving him with various bleeding wounds on his body, though none were life-threatening. A cut above his left eye had blood dripping down his face and forced him to keep the eye closed lest the crimson liquid get in his eye. The smoky armor was unable to reform over where he'd been cut, leaving many holes in it.

Kenpachi wore a huge grin on his face, obviously enjoying the fight. He had wounds covering his entire body, staining his clothes and the ground around him with his blood. Both of the sleeves on his shihakushō had been cut off, blood dripping from the cuts on his arms, and there was a huge gash on his chest that oozed blood. There was a cut on the right side of his face that had chipped the simple cloth covering on his eye, making it loose.

"Seems like I can enjoy this fight and go all out with you!" The larger man said, grabbing the eyepatch with his free hand and pulling it off, causing a huge rise in his Reiatsu that would have crushed an ordinary person.

Gripping his sword tighter, Connor spoke quietly, "How much longer can we keep this going, Sin?"

"As long as you need," the entity spoke, the lips of the mask moving with the words, but they sounded strained and hoarse.

"Not much longer, then," he stated, answering his own question, "I'd say that our next attack is going to decide the winner."

"C'mon!" Kenpachi shouted, holding his arms out to give Connor an opening, "Give me your best shot!"

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Jake blocked a slash from Maria's claws with his armored arm, allowing it to take the brunt of the attack, before he followed it up with a punch with his free hand. It struck the side of her masked face, making a small crack. She let out a roar of fury and shoved him back.

"Fuego Demonio!" Maria shouted, opening her mouth and releasing a jet of blood-red flames that engulfed Jake entirely. However, he appeared a moment later just in front of her and tried to slash at her less-armored underbelly. Sensing him, she swung one of her arms at him, causing him to have to use his sonído to move back and out of the way.

"Seems like your distraction didn't work so well," she stated boastfully, pointing at his injured right arm.

The entire right sleeve had been burnt off, leaving it singed at his shoulder, and a large burn covered the majority of his arm. However, Jake seemed unaffected by the pain it should have been causing him.

"You're right, I wasn't expecting you to react that quickly," he admitted, glancing at his arm for a moment, "or to get burnt this badly. Might not be able to use this arm for the rest of this fight."

"You're not giving up, are you?" She asked curiously, cocking her head to the side.

"Nah, I told you I would give it my best shot, remember?" He told her, grinning. She couldn't return it, but Jake got the feeling that she felt the same way.

Without another word, he used his sonído to get in close, and Maria swung at him, expecting him to aim at her underbelly, again. However, she was surprised when he missed her completely and dove toward the shadow she cast on the wall of one of the nearby towers. Instead of hitting it or going through the wall, he actually went into her shadow, surprising her even more.

"Wait for the right moment," the voice of Jake's zanpakuto, Shadōurufu, said to him as Maria approached her shadow cautiously. When she was within arms' reach, the female voice shouted, "Now!"

"Shadōpakku!" The brown-haired Arrancar yelled, leaping out of the shadow and slashing into Maria's side. She spun around, not expecting several shadow clones of Jake to burst from her shadow, slashing various parts of her body before the clones vanished. She let out a roar of agony before releasing a crimson Cero from her maw at the teen, engulfing him and seemingly obliterating him.

However, that Jake proved to be a clone as well when the real one burst from her shadow, a Cero fully charged and ready to go. His Cero was black, outlined with grey, showing that he'd enhanced it and made the attack his own.

He flew at Maria faster than she could react, aiming to end the fight with one last attack. Just before he was about to release his Cero, someone got between him and the Tercera, grabbing a hold of the hand that held his Cero and crushing the attack and at least two of his fingers.

With an outburst of pain, Jake looked up to find out who had stopped him. He was surprised to find it was none other than the one who had suggested the fight; the Cuarta, Tristan Varela. He wore a look of calm indifference as he held the smaller Arrancar up by his mangled hand, but Jake could sense a well of untapped power and anger just behind the facade.

"Tristan!" Maria shouted, outraged, "What the hell are you doing?! You're interfering with the test you suggested?!"

"No," he stated calmly, tossing Jake back and letting the Arrancar land and let his now useless right hand fall limp, "I'm simply evening the odds. We wanted to give him a truly fair fight; he's clearly out of your league."

"You're just trying to butt in to show off to-!" The enraged Tercera began, but was cut off as a Bala struck the side of her face. Startled by the bold action, Maria watched the Cuarta cautiously.

"You swore to never reveal that to anyone," he told her, his eyes cold and angry, "and here you were about to say it in front of-never mind, the point is, he's got you outmatched in terms of raw power and speed. I can't help you with the speed, but as for the power..."

The blonde Arrancar reached back and drew not one, but TWO blades from the sheathes on his back. This caught Jake off-guard as he examined the two katana. They seemed relatively identical, except one had a red hilt and a red tassel on the bottom, and the other had a blue hilt with a blue tassel. Holding them both out, the Arrancar watched Jake's reaction as he released his Resurrección.

"Rugido de los Elementos, Oso de Fuego y Hielo!" Tristan shouted, a mixture of blue and red Reiatsu engulfing him. Jake found himself frozen in shock as he watched the other Arrancar grow stronger.

"This is unbelievable..." Shadōurufu said to him, her voice shocked, "This Arrancar has a dual-element Resurrección!"

"What?!" Jake responded, shocked at this revelation. He closed both his hands into fists as he waited for the release to finish, unknowingly healing his broken fingers.

After a moment the Reiatsu faded, allowing Jake to examine his new enemy. He had taken on the appearance of a Polar Bear, but with more human-like qualities. His face no longer had a mask, but his head was inside the mouth of the bear, and he had a red marking on his left cheek and a blue marking on his left. His hands looked like a cross between human and bear, but they weren't identical to one another. His right hand had openings on his knuckles where small jets of flame would spark for a moment before fading and it had an image of a flame going from his wrist up to his shoulder. His left had was coated in a blue mist that made Jake cold just by looking at it, making him reluctant to find out what would happen if he was hit by it, and going from his wrist to his shoulder were the images of pale-blue snowflakes that were almost invisible on the white fur that covered his entire body. Overall, Tristan could be described in a single sentence. He was a beast.

"Oh shit..." Jake said as Maria took up a stance next to her fellow Espada. He just wondered whether the Cuarta had planned this from the beginning; he had a sinking feeling that was the case

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Translations:

Fuego Demonio: Demon Fire

Shadōpakku: Shadow Pack

Rugido de los Elementos, Oso de Fuego y Hielo: Roar of the Elements, Bear of Fire and Ice

A/N: I'm gonna go back and add these into previous chapters, I forgot to when I posted them ^-^"


	6. Chapter 6

Jacy: I'm feeling a little lack of…attention, here… I mean, sure, this update is late, but ever since I started updating this again, no one has given me a review. At all…

I don't mind if it's just a two word, or even a ONE WORD review, I just want…something…please? Pretty please?

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the copyrighted things that I use. I do, however, own my OCs and this story.

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Chapter 6: Stand Tall

"Yah!" Connor rushed at Kenpachi, all the remnants of the power Sin had leant him coalescing onto the blade in the teen's hands. The overwhelming power from the sword chipped and broke the surroundings as he ran, but Kenpachi remained in the same spot, unmoving as he gave Connor a free shot.

'Have to make this count!' The dark-eyed high-schooler told himself, 'I can't let myself be beaten here, this attack has to take him down!'

Almost instantly, he heard a whisper at the back of his mind. A whisper from his zanpakuto, finally answering his earlier plea for strength.

The moment his blade struck Kenpachi's unguarded chest, Conmor shouted, "Gādian no buki, Sutōnbureido!"

Connie's blade changed shape as he cut down through Kenpachi's chest, though the larger man seemed unbothered, even excited by it. The blade became the color of stone and became larger, growing to the size of a claymore. The hilt grew longer and the wrappings around it got longer and had some hanging free at the bottom. Gauntlets formed on Connor's hands, appearing like European-style armor, and were the color of iron. When Connor's blade struck the ground, the teen felt his vision fading and saw that the 11th Division captain was still standing.

"I wasn't...strong enough..." Connor wheezed, falling to his knees before landing on his face, unconscious.

"Not bad, kid," Kenpachi stated to the high-schooler's unconscious form, a serious look on his face as he looked at his own wounded body and lifted his zanpakuto up to show that there were cracks spider-webbed on it. Turning around, he added, "You fought well, maybe we can have a rematch later. But Kuchiki's your next opponent, and he won't be as fun as I was."

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Urahara watched the end of Connor's fight with intrigue, noting how the teen had managed to unlock his Shikai upon his final strike. Most Shinigami were lucky to ever have the power to awaken their released zanpakuto on a good day, but he'd managed to pull his out while fighting the most blood-thirsty captain in the history of the Gotei 13. Impressive.

"He is truly remarkable," the shopkeeper stated aloud, turning to look at the captain of Squad 6 who stood to his left. Byakuya Kuchiki didn't respond and kept a passive face as he watched Yoruichi recover Connor's body from the training ground and disappear with him, unaware of the healing springs on the grounds.

"Con-chan made Ken-chan happy!" Yachiru excitedly exclaimed, causing Urahara to look at the small lieutenant with amusement, "He had fun fighting him, he really got to fight like he always wants to! I'm gonna go find Ken-chan and have him tell me more!"

Without another word, the pink-haired Shinigami was gone, leaving the two men to themselves. Urahara glanced over at Byakuya with a serious face, examining the Shinigami for any hint of what he felt at the chance to fight Connor next.

"He's strong," the noble Kuchiki said finally, "and managing to entertain Zaraki for so long is certainly a feat. Kurosaki will likely be surprised by the emergence of another Substitute, especially one that can hold his own against Zaraki."

"That's only if the two ever meet," Urahara stated simply, pulling out his fan and covering the lower half if his face with it, "and I'm trying to keep that from happening."

Byakuya didn't question the former-Shinigami's words, but instead used his shunpo to disappear to somewhere else in the training grounds. Almost as soon as he'd gone, two others showed up. One was Yoruichi, a serious look on her face. The second was none other than Kenpachi, bandages wrapped around his various wounds. It took the shopkeeper a moment to notice that Yachiru was wrapping them around his chest, still.

"We have springs that can heal your wounds just fine, Kenpachi," Urahara pointed out, turning to look at the captain.

"Shihōin told me," the large Shinigami told him, replacing his eyepatch over his eye, "but I like to heal from my wounds naturally, especially ones dealt by a worthy opponent."

"Very well," he relented, looking to Yoruichi, "How long before Connor will be ready to face Byakuya?"

"Can't you feel it?" She asked him, frowning, "His Reiatsu is already back to the way it was before he faced Kenpachi, it's only getting higher."

"Is he conscious?" The blonde asked, his tone serious.

"No," she answered, shaking her head, "and at this rate, by the time he is, his Reiatsu will be at least double what it was before."

"This is truly one scary kid," Urahara stated, turning around to look at the battered training ground.

"He'd be great in my Division," Kenpachi said, a wild grin on his face as Yachiru climbed on his shoulder.

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Jake had drawn his other sword in his armored hand, needing it to help him defend against the onslaught of attacks from his enemies. His useless right arm had begun to bother him as he constantly had to make sure it didn't get caught in the attacks he was dodging. After it brushed against one of Tristan's claws and got burnt even more, he ripped off his sash, letting his coat flap in the gusts made by the powerful Reiatsu flying around, and wrapped it around his chest and arm, holding it taut against his side.

"Really feeling that one, aren't you?" Tristan asked as he and Maria took up stances in front of him.

"I'll deal with it after I'm finished winning," he stated, a smirk on his face. Shooting forward, he sliced through Tristan's hierro at his side and made the Arrancar bleed. Without missing a beat, both of his foes swung their arms back to try and hit him, but he used his sonído to move out of the way and slice through Maria's side as he did.

"He's too fast," Maria panted, looking over to Tristan, "We can't hit him if he's on the offensive."

"Then we'll take the offensive," the bear-like Arrancar stated simply, flames sparking from his hand as he turned his gaze to where Jake stood not far off. Lifting his hand, he shouted, "Olla del Fuego!"

Almost immediately, a huge blast of flame erupted from Tristan's hand, heading toward Jake at a blinding speed. Acting quickly, the brown-haired male moved out of the way, only to find Maria waiting in the spot he moved. Eyes widening, he couldn't react fast enough to stop her from releasing her own attack.

"Demonio Fuego!" She shouted, launching her fire point-blank. The fire engulfed him, burning off the majority of his coat and singing his chest before he could manage to escape it.

Panting heavily, he watched as his opponents drew closer. He could hear his heart beating in his ears, which he knew couldn't be possible as Hollows supposedly had no heart, and it blocked out everything else. He could barely keep his eyes open and decided not to fight it. He didn't feel like fighting.

"Don't you dare just roll over and die!" The male voice in his head shouted at him, breaking Jake's moment of peace, "You're still breathing so you're not done."

All around him, time seemed to slow as he responded quietly, "What's the point? I can't win! They have experience, power, and numbers! I can barely remember my own name, what do I need to keep fighting for?"

"Survival," both of the voices said simultaneously, with the male adding, "And the hope of remembering your past. With our help, we can help you win, and together we'll bring back your memories."

"Fine," Jake said, his eyes becoming a mixture of amber and brown as he looked up, "give me your strength so we can win this."

"Then let me free," the male voice said as Jake began to point his sword out in front of him, "and my power is yours."

"Rasgón, Sangre Colmillo!" The Arrancar roared, his Reiatsu engulfing him again and causing both of his foes to be knocked back by the force. The color of the energy surrounding him was a mixture of dark-grays and crimson. When it faded, he had a new appearance.

His hair had grown out to the middle of his back and turned gray with streaks of blood-red, and his mask fragment had disappeared completely. Instead, he had two wolf ears atop his head that reacted to the sounds around him, and his clothing had become similar to a ranger in the wilds, though all the furs used to make it were the coats of gray wolves. His boots had been ripped through by his claws, and his injured right arm had become good as new, and his nails had grown to become claws Two crimson lines came from his hair line to the bottom of his face, going over each of his eyes, and his armored left arm now reached all the way to his shoulder, with a shoulder pad in the shape of a wolf's head connecting to it there.

"His Reiatsu..." Maria whispered, her eyes wide.

"I know," Tristan acknowledged, his eyes narrowing, "it almost passes Starrk when he's in his Resurrección."

"Do you think...?" She asked, looking over at him.

"I don't know," he answered, shaking his head, "but I do know that this is Jake's Resurrección."

"You're right," Jake agreed, suddenly right in front of him and grabbing him by the troat with his left hand, "and I'm going to enjoy using it, I think."

Without another word, he threw the larger Arrancar at Maria, both of them colliding and going flying. Using his greatly enhanced speed, he shot forward and got behind them, beginning to charge a huge red-and-black Cero in his right hand. His two foes quickly untangled themselves and launched their attacks at him, but he simply used his left hand to bat them aside, the attacks barely singing his hand.

"Sombra Sangre Cero!" Jake shouted, unleashing the attack and engulfing both of his enemies in the powerful attack. When it faded, the two were barely standing, but Jake appeared to be completely fine. However, this was just a mask.

"Damn..." He wheezed, feeling as though his body were ripping itself apart, "I was hoping that one would finish it. Why does this hurt so much?"

"You're combining the powers of Shinigami and Hollows on a level completely unheard of before this," Shadōurufu told him, her tone concerned, "I'm surprised this even worked, let alone that you've lasted this long."

"How much longer before this becomes life-threatening?" The Arrancar asked, blood dripping from the corner of his mouth. He noticed that Tristan and Maria had seen this and were keeping their distance, but also figured their injuries were another reason.

"It already is," Sombra Sangre told him, irritated, "so we better pick which one of those two we're taking down first because we don't have the time to talk about it anymore."

"Got it," Jake said, his brown-amber gaze hardening before he used his cross between sonído and shunpo to get in Tristan's face in an instant. The larger Arrancar swung his left hand at Jake, but he dodged under it and escaped with only a small scratch, following it up with a Cero to his chest point-blank. Tristan's eyes went wide as he fell, but Jake paid him no mind as he felt his entire left arm go numb. He looked and saw that the scratch he'd gotten had begun to form ice crystals, making his realize that he would eventually be frozen solid. He suddenly coughed and used his right hand to cover his mouth, finding that he was coughing up blood.

"Damn..." He said to himself, looking at his bloody hand before looking around for Maria. He found that she was watching him from not far off, and he thought he saw concern flash in her eyes for a moment. Frowning, he shouted to her, "Why are you hesitating? You could have ended me right there!"

She didn't respond, but simply watched him for a moment longer before firing off several Balas at him. He dodged them with relative ease, though one grazed his rapidly-freezing arm, but he didn't feel it due to the numbness. He quickly got in her face and delivered a sharp uppercut with his right hand, knocking her chin upwards. He followed it up with a harsh kick to her chest and knocked her back a bit.

"You're holding back..." He panted, more blood dripping from his mouth as he spoke, "You know I can dodge those Balas, why fire them?"

"You're killing yourself," she said, her voice edged with concern and anger, "Why are you keeping this up?"

"To finish this," he said before a fit of coughing struck him, making more scarlet fly from his mouth, "I can't talk anymore, don't have the time."

He moved toward her again, but this time he was stopped again. He backed up to find that Starrk and the rest of the Espada blocked his path, the Primera himself holding Tristan over his shoulder as though the large Arrancar weighed nothing.

"That's enough," Starrk told him, his blue-gray eyes reflecting his calm, "This fight has been decided. Reseal your Resurreccións, both of you."

Jake went to do as he was told when another fit of coughing struck him, and he lost consciousness, plummeting to the ground below. Just before he could hit the ground, Maria, her Resurrección sealed, caught him in her arms. She watched as his own broke, returning him back to the way he looked before, his wounds severe. His swords had returned to their sheaths, sparks of red and black Reiatsu coming off them.

"Take care of him, Maria," Starrk told her, appearing behind her with his sonído, "I'll have Yuudai and Lilynette see to Tristan."

"Did he pass?" She asked softly, not turning to look at the Primera.

"He passed the moment I saw him release his zanpakuto," Starrk responded, his face impassive, "He is something else, having both the zanpakuto of a Shinigami and an Arrancar. See to it that he has his number tattooed on him by the time you bring him to the meeting room tomorrow. We need to make sure that our new Segunda is recognized as such."

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Translation notes:

Gādian no buki, Sutōnbureido: Guardian's Weapon, Stone Blade

Olla del Fuego: Pot of Fire

Demonio Fuego: Demon Fire

Rasgón, Sangre Colmillo: Rip, Blood Fang

Sombra Sangre Cero: Shadow Blood Cero


	7. Chapter 7

Jacy: Aaaand Chapter 7, on time!

Kain: And you also got a review, finally, too!

Jacy: Yes, I did! I'd like to send a shoutout to that lone reviewer! To Ralyks676, thank you so much for your review! You have no idea how much it means to me!

Kain: Before he gets too emotional, Cue Disclaimer!

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the copyrighted things that I use, I do however own my OCs and this story.

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Chapter 7: My Power

When Connor opened his eyes, he found himself more than a little surprised at his surroundings. He was lying upon a metal ground, huge metal structures around him. Some of them had definition, shapes, that included medieval weaponry, armor, even buildings out of European mythology, but others were just masses of unformed metal, waiting to be forged into something.

He looked down at himself and saw that his shihakushō was missing its sleeves, and he had traces of scars from fights he didn't remember having. The sheathe at his side was empty, leaving him curious about where his zanpakuto was.

"You fought well, my bearer," the deep, almost mechanical voice that had spoken to Connor earlier echoed through the landscape, startling him, "Even against one with such power, you held your own. I expected nothing less."

"Where are you?" The teen questioned, getting to his feet, "Where am I?"

"I am here," the voice of his zanpakuto's spirit responded and Connor watched in shock as a figure walked out of one of the unformed metal masses, as if melting into the shape. It looked like a huge golem, with partially completed pieces attached that resembled the armor of a medieval knight. Its head was little more than a lump of gray metal, with two glowing red eyes that watched him with scrutiny, and no mouth whatsoever. Despite this, it continued to speak, "And you are in my domain, my world inside your mind. I wanted for us to meet, face-to-face, after your fight."

"I lost," Connor said, remembering, "I didn't beat Kenpachi."

"And you expected to?" Sutōnbureido rumbled, coming to a stop in front of the teen. The golem loomed over him, easily taller than even Kenpachi. The spirit continued, "He is one that has only known battle, caring for little else save a good fight. But you strive for more than that, you have purpose and that will make you grow stronger. We shall face your enemies together."

"And with my help, we can take the power from guys that don't deserve it," the voice of Sin said from over Connor's shoulder and the teen looked to find the strange entity was seemingly coming out of his back to look over his shoulder, his appearance altered slightly. The creature still possessed its single eye and sharp-toothed grin, but it was smaller, almost the size of a small child.

"Only from the ones who don't deserve it," Connor agreed, surprising himself with the ease he accepted Sin's sudden appearance and the being's words, "And only when I say you can."

"Of course, my partner," the onyx entity said, its grin not even shrinking a tiny bit, "as long as you feed me every once in a while, we'll both be satisfied."

"I have long dealt with Sin's presence, my bearer," Sutōn told the teen, the golem once again becoming the focus of the teen's attention, "He is a most curious creature, though he feeds on the very souls of others, he does not devour them completely. He has made the time before you and I could speak easier, and he and I have a mutual understanding."

"We are simply separate pieces of your power, partner," Sin stated, his massive orange eye turning to look at Connor, "Two sides of the same coin. He felt that you should earn your power, piece by piece. I felt you deserved even a small chance of beating that huge Shinigami."

"When you first leant me your power, Sin, why did it feel like you were...?" Connor trailed off as the entity nodded in understanding.

"That Yoruichi was hurting you, and, by extension, Sutōn and me," Sin said, "He wanted to wait it out, like a rock, but I was tired of watching you get your ass handed to you. So I stepped in, but I may have gotten a little carried away."

At the last part, his grin seemed a little...sheepish. Connor couldn't help the chuckle that came out at the sight of it; the monstrous-looking, powerful creature looking as though he'd been caught stealing from the cookie jar. It was too funny.

"You'll be fighting the other Shinigami when you awaken, my bearer," Sutōn spoke, his mechanical voice sounding serious. At this, Connor sobered up and began to look pensive.

"Byakuya Kuchiki, fighting him will be an entirely different level of difficult and painful," the teen stated, his eyes narrowing and he began to frown.

"Sutōn and I have been with you your whole life, we watched that show with you and we have a rough assumption of how hard fighting him will be," Sin said, his voice sounding strangely calm and level-headed, but his wide grin made him seem anything but.

"It will be wholly different than fighting the Kenpachi," the zanpakuto spirit agreed, nodding his iron head with the sound of clanking metal, "His attacks are swift and hard to follow, and our powers are not of the level to face someone of his caliber without expecting many wounds to follow."

"But we'll fight him, regardless," Connor told the two beings, determination flaring up in his eyes as he lifted his head, "We'll face Byakuya, not with the expectation of beating him, but with the expectation of walking away with his respect."

"Strong words," Sutōnbureido stated, his mechanical voice holding a tinge of amusement as his eyes grew a shade lighter, "I expected nothing less of my bearer."

"Now hurry up and wake up," Sin told him, his excitement barely contained, "We'll show that snobby noble that we won't go down without a fight."

Connor couldn't stop the smile that spread across his face at that, nodding in agreement. He couldn't respond, though, as his vision blurred and went dark not a moment afterwards.

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Connor blinked open his eyes, once more finding himself in the healing springs in the training grounds. He looked around and found that he was alone, no sign of Yoruichi or anyone else in sight. That could easily be false, however, as the teen recalled that both Urahara and the Flash Goddess had been prominent members of Squad 2 as well as the Punishment Force of the Onmitsukidō, with the Shihōin herself the Captain and head of both. But he felt like he was honestly alone, and that had to count for something.

He noticed that a fresh towel and his shihakushō lay within reach of the tub, but he felt no need to rush himself. He took the time to examine himself, noticing how much he'd changed in what was likely only little more than a day, but he couldn't be sure. He'd gained more muscle tone, both from his fighting as well as the first test that he'd faced when he'd gotten here. Despite the healing waters of the spring, they couldn't make his scars fade any quicker and he'd gained plenty of those in his short time with the shopkeeper and his partner in crime. He was rather amused by his determination to rescue his friend, but felt like it was the only course of action and that Jake would likely have done the same if their roles had switched.

At the thought of his friend, Connor frowned. By now, the other teen was likely a Hollow, though he couldn't be sure if he was a mindless, low-level one or a high-level killer. He thought of what Urahara had told him. Jake had unusually high Spiritual Pressure, as high as Ichigo after he'd regained his powers. His friend often spoke of seeing things out of the corners of his eye, or hearing voices whisper his name or things he couldn't make out, but they both shrugged them off as nothing. Now, it seemed entirely likely that they had been spirits trying to make contact. How ironic was it that he ended up the Soul Reaper while Jake was the Hollow that ate them? Connor quickly pulled away from those dark and morbid thoughts, focusing instead on the positive.

He was alive and working his way to find his friend and bring him back, or purify him if he had become a Hollow. But how would he explain that to Jake's parents? 'I'm sorry that I had to kill your son to send him to the Soul Society? Don't worry; he'll be safe until you die, too.' Connor couldn't help but snort at the thought, it was entirely ridiculous. How would he address that problem, though? He couldn't just ignore it, nor could he ignore his own parents, either. He'd been gone for over a day after his school had been attacked, his parents had probably reported it to the police by now, and Jake's parents had probably done the same thing.

The teen scowled at the dark thoughts he was having, unsure of what else he could think about. Was there anything else he could think of? There was his fight with Byakuya Kuchiki, he supposed, but for some reason that didn't bother him as much as it probably should have. He brushed it off as simply being at ease with it after talking with Sin and Sutōnbureido.

At the thought of his zanpakuto, he looked up to where he saw it leaning up against a small rock near his clothes. It had returned to his sealed form, the European broadsword, and was in its sheathe. He hadn't gotten to see what its abilities were when it was released as he'd lost consciousness after he had, and it hadn't occurred to him while he was in his zanpakuto's inner world to ask. He doubted the metal golem would have told him, anyway, and that made him smile a little. It made him happy that his zanpakuto wanted him to learn on his own, to learn on the fly, as he had always preferred. It made things seem a little more normal, even though nothing about this scenario was.

Finally deciding that he'd taken long enough, Connor pulled himself out of the tub and grabbed the towel. After he was sufficiently dry enough, he grabbed his shihakushō and began to figure out how to put it on correctly. Strangely, he found that it came naturally to him, as if he'd done it a million times before, but he shrugged it off as a useful coincidence. He noted that his uniform had been altered slightly, both of his sleeves looking as though they'd been ripped off and he wore pants instead of the typical Shinigami bottoms; he figured it was probably Yoruichi who had done it as he noticed the Shihōin family symbol embroidered on his right pant leg. He felt strangely happy at that, feeling like he was being accepted into the world he'd enjoyed on the other side of a TV screen or page of a manga. He grabbed his zanpakuto after that and inserted it through the sash at his waist, feeling for a moment like all was right in the world; as if everything in his life had led up to this single moment. He shook his head in amusement at that, feeling slightly childish, but happy at the same time.

Unsure of what else to do, he began to walk away from the springs, content to wander until he stumbled upon the Kuchiki or he showed up at his leisure. Either was fine to him, as he felt at peace despite the inner turmoil he had faced moments ago.

His footsteps brought him to the crater where he had first accepted Sin's power to fight Yoruichi, cringing at the phantom pain that struck him at the memory. He continued walking and found a link of his Chain of Fate, recalling the moment he had awakened his Soul Reaper powers. The feeling had been exhilarating, the sense of purpose and strength making him feel important and powerful, but humble at the same time. He was likely the only person he knew that would ever get to feel like that, and it made him smile sadly.

It was when Connor reached an unmarred part of the training grounds that he found him. Byakuya Kuchiki sat on a cushion, enjoying a cup of tea as his zanpakuto lay across his lap. The noble looked serene and calm, unbothered by neither the fight that would ensue nor the teen's sudden appearance. Despite this, Connor wasn't angry or upset at the fact that he thought nothing of it; in fact, it made him more at ease. His opponent would not be as violent as Kenpachi, or as brutal. He would be cool, level-headed, and at ease. That made him feel better.

"You are welcome to sit," Byakuya said, but it was neither an order nor an invitation, merely a statement. He saw Connor as an equal, the teen frowned at this. Perhaps he might not have to fight to gain this man's respect.

The teen sat, having to maneuver his over-large sword into his lap to do so properly, and the noble took another sip of his tea. Both were silent, neither willing to comment or break the silence. Finally, the Kuchiki finished his drink and placed the cup to the side, turning his gaze to the teen.

"You can speak with your zanpakuto," he said, another statement of fact.

"Yes," Connor responded anyway, nodding, "He and I are well-aware of the differences in our power, Captain Kuchiki. But we would still be honored to face you and we will not back down from our fight."

"There are few Shinigami that can speak with their zanpakuto," Byakuya said, seemingly ignoring everything but the answer to his not-question, "none who have been one for less than a day and can release their Shikai already. You are a rare talent, Caelan-san."

A little surprised by the praise and honorific, the teen responded, "T-thank you, Captain Kuchiki. But it is merely my drive that makes my power grow so quickly; the longer my friend is in the hands of the Arrancars, the less chance of him remaining himself when I find him."

"Urahara-san informed me of your situation, Caelan-san," the Kuchiki stated evenly, his eyes examining the teen, "It is one of the reasons I agreed to help with your training."

"It is?" Connor asked, surprised. He hadn't expected the Kuchiki to be this considerate; the show and manga had made him seem cold, perhaps the people making them wanted him to seem that way.

"Yes," he stated, his eyes growing distant, "When Kurosaki came to the Soul Society to prevent the execution of Rukia-san, he changed much. He continued to alter the way things had always been, and because of these changes the Soul Society has become...happier. He made me see that some things are worth challenging, worth fighting for, and worth risking everything. That is what you plan to do to rescue your friend, is it not?"

"Yes," Connor answered, nodding, "I couldn't protect my friend before. I owe it to him to do everything I can to save him. He'd do the same; we're like brothers. We fight, sometimes, sure, but at the end of the day we know that we've got each other's backs. No matter what, I won't come back without him."

"Your ideals are wise for one so young," Byakuya stated, rising to his feet as he placed his sheathe back into the sash at his waist. Connor rose and did the same. The noble continued, "Many would benefit from knowing you, Caelan-san. Perhaps you would consider formal training at the Shinigami Academy in the Seireitei when this is all over? You would most certainly excel and the Gotei 13 could do with a Shinigami like you."

"I appreciate that, Captain Kuchiki," Connor said, bowing slightly, "and I might even consider it. But right now, I would like to focus on our fight."

"Very well," Byakuya agreed, drawing his blade as Connor did the same, "I shall enjoy testing my power against yours."

Connor grinned at that, "Thanks."

"Chire, Senbonzakura," Byakuya said calmly, the blade of his sword scattering into what appeared to be a thousand pink cherry blossoms, but this was entirely untrue. In actuality, they were all tiny, slender blade fragments, each capable of slicing through an enemy with ease. In response, Connor released his own Shikai.

"Gādian no buki, Sutōnbureido!" The teen shouted and his blade morphed into the massive claymore that easily weighed at least fifty pounds and was almost as big as Connor himself, and he was taller than most teens his age. The stone color of the blade resembled the boulders around them, and the iron gauntlets clinked as Connor tightened his grip.

"My power against yours," the teen stated, Sin's power flowing through him as the entity leant it to him without a word. He didn't appear as monstrous as before, only a black mask appeared over his face. The teen's line of sight was unbothered by the covering, instead it seemed better as he saw through the huge orange eye. Behind the sharp-toothed grin on the mask, Connor wore a smirk of his own.

"Are you a Visored?" The Kuchiki questioned, though there was no hostility in the question.

"No," he responded honestly, his voice overlaid with Sin's, "but I don't think that's far off."

And the fight began without another word.

XRXEXVXOXLXUXTXIXOXNX

Translaction notes:

Seireitei: Court of Pure Souls

Gotei 13: 13 Court Guard Squads

Chire, Senbonzakura: Scatter, Senbonzakura

Gādian no buki, Sutōnbureido: Guardian's Weapon, Stone Blade


End file.
